Prince’s Foundation boost

The Prince’s Foundation lodges bid for training centre to boost rural skills industry

In what would represent a boost to rural industry in the UK, The Prince’s Foundation has applied for planning permission for a new education centre at Dumfries House estate in East Ayrshire.

The charity, whose President is HRH The Prince of Wales, has earned recognition as a flagbearer for promoting education, training and employment in the farming and rural skills sector. Under newly-lodged plans with East Ayrshire Council, The Prince’s Foundation plans to expand its offering in that area with a new facility at its primary base, in south-west Scotland.

Under plans submitted, a rural skills training facility would lie adjacent to the estate’s commercial operation Home Farm and host events and workshops for around 1800 participants each year, including secondary school pupils, school leavers showing an interest in land-based careers, and adult learners looking for new careers as well as farming and rural sector workers looking to upskill.

“The Prince’s Foundation recognises the need to pass on traditional and rural skills such as hedge-laying, dry-stone walling, fencing, drainage, and butchery within the existing workforce, and our proposed new facility next to Home Farm on Dumfries House estate will further broaden the agricultural education offering,” explained Gordon Neil, an executive director of The Prince’s Foundation based at Dumfries House.

At Dumfries House, The Prince’s Foundation already engages with people of all ages to promote rural careers through a series of annual events, including a Festival of Farming for primary school pupils, Women In Wellies to encourage women to work in rural industries, and Countryside Careers Day for secondary pupils. Valentin’s Education Farm, home to a dozen rare breeds of animal, and the Kauffman Education Garden form the setting for education programmes that attracts thousands of school pupils each year, while training programmes accredited by the Royal Horticultural Society instill in younger generations skills of outdoor maintenance and gardening.

The Prince’s Foundation provides holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today. It champions a sustainable approach to how we live our lives and build our communities, runs a diverse programme of education and training for all ages and backgrounds, and regenerates and cares for places where communities thrive and that visitors enjoy. The charity works nationally and internationally but at the heart of the organisation is the heritageled regeneration of the Dumfries House estate and its wider community, where its principles and philosophies are explored and put into practice.